Machado Backs US Role in Venezuela's Oil as $8bn Citgo Auction Leaves Creditors Unpaid
Venezuela's opposition leader endorses American development of the country's reserves even as the court-ordered Citgo sale leaves creditors owed more than $20bn.
Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado said on Thursday (2026-09-03) that she backs a long-term US role in developing her country's oil reserves, while questioning who has the authority to sign the sweeping agreement announced by acting President Delcy Rodríguez. Her remarks keep alive a debate over the legal standing of the 25-year arrangement covering 17 oilfields and a production target of 1.5m barrels per day, even as Venezuela produces roughly 1.25m bpd.7
The political legitimacy dispute plays out alongside a court-ordered sale that closed on 25 November 2025. Delaware District Judge Leonard Stark approved Amber Energy's $5.892bn cash bid for Citgo parent PDV Holding, plus a $2.125bn transition-services agreement, roughly $8bn combined, against more than $20bn in creditor claims. ConocoPhillips holds the largest single claim in the court record at $8.5bn.7
The auction was designed to pay down those claims. The $8bn in proceeds falls well short of the $20bn total, leaving creditors to argue over a pool that does not cover the face value of what they are owed. ConocoPhillips has signalled it holds claims of roughly $10bn to $12bn, above the figure in the court record.7
That gap frames the Rodríguez government's outreach to private operators. The 17-field development plan, which Rodríguez described as allowing for "a significant increase in oil production with the participation of private operators," carries a stated proven potential of 65bn barrels. Whether those reserves can generate cash flows that service old judgments is a separate question from whether the reservoirs exist.7,4
Trump posted on his Truth Social page late on Friday (2026-08-28) that the US had secured majority control over more than 65bn barrels of proven reserves, calling it "the biggest oil deal in world history." Under the announced terms, the US side could receive around a 55% effective production entitlement. The Office of Strategic Capital, housed in the Department of War, holds a free carry 35% equity stake in North American Blue Energy Partners, the vehicle granted a 100-year licence to the fields.3,45
The structure has drawn criticism from across Venezuela's political spectrum. Rystad Energy warned that "a future government with a new electoral mandate could face pressure to renegotiate fiscal terms or revisit development rights, creating contractual risk for companies evaluating long-cycle investment decisions." That warning carries weight in a country that has seen its oil sector nationalised and re-privatised more than once.6
Chevron is the incumbent most exposed to this risk. As of late August (2026-08-24), it was the only major American firm that had operated through the Maduro years and continued to extract and export, more than half a year after US forces removed Maduro. The other large US firms have not returned to operating oilfields despite the reserves on offer.2
Scott Bessent, the US Treasury secretary, described Chevron's position as "obviously at the front of the pack." Venezuela holds around 303bn barrels of proven reserves, against current output of roughly 1.25m bpd — the distance to the deal's 1.5m bpd production target illustrates the operational challenge the new arrangement must overcome.1,37
One near-term cash flow connected to the deal is the sale of 50m stockpiled barrels, worth perhaps $2bn, that the US is acquiring from Venezuela. That volume would move through existing export channels and could give buyers an early read on how quickly commercial flows resume, before long-cycle field development becomes the dominant question.1
ICE Brent crude front-month stood at $103.37/bbl as of 19 September 2026. Machado's endorsement of the deal's broad direction, paired with her challenge to its legal basis, and Rystad's contractual-risk warning, all converge on the same unresolved problem: whether the stockpiled-barrel sale closes on stated terms, and whether any US major beyond Chevron commits capital to the 17 fields before a new Venezuelan electoral mandate puts the arrangement to its first real test.1,67